Thor #31 Review
Thor has been searching for answers on Thanos, the Mad Titan ever since he discovered he was alive again. Thanks, Eternals. But all he has found instead of answers was more mysteries and even more questions. Then Corvus Glaive, Thanos’ second-in-command, kidnaps his younger sister Laussa out of the blue to unlock even more dreaded secrets, and one travel to Niflheim later, and Thor is confronted with an ancient secret his grandfather kept locked away. See what secrets await the God of Thunder in Thor #31.
Review:
Fair warning: there will be SPOILERS throughout this review in order to present with some context on what’s happening and what might happen in the next issue. Let’s get into it.
So, we finally get to see what the big mystery was, what the big thing that Bor had locked away, and what terrified Odin’s spirit so much. And it’s….a Time Storm? I’m a little confused but based on what we get in the comic, the big secret was a storm that shows the viewer, in this case Thor, the past, present, and future all at once. But this is when the first problem shows up: the Time Storm is a big letdown. It isn’t illustrated in any interesting way to show off this time-viewing aspect of it, nor does it look all that impressive to begin with. There aren’t any passing images, blurs, glimpses of the past or future passing through Thor or anything. It’s just generic storm clouds and dead bodies lying beneath Thor’s feet and they’re not the bodies of anyone he or readers will recognize. Readers don’t even get to see what Thor sees, and Thor himself doesn’t look all that different in that moment than he normally does with Nic Klein’s art.
Which then feeds into the obvious time travel element that will eventually come up later in the series. Or maybe not, who knows with this series at this point. But one thing’s for sure, this comic doesn’t spend that much time on it, and neither will this review. So, as readers can see in the preview images of the comic, an older Laussa, holding Corvus Glaive’s signature weapon, shows up to tell Thor to “check on his dead” and then she’s off. As the comic demonstrates, this is just a plot device to get Thor to the next big issue: Valhalla is empty of its valiant warrior dead and Jane Foster’s called in to help. This is where the comic begins to pour in its best dialogue in the interactions between Thor, Jane, and Odin. This trio isn’t the most exciting but it’s snappy in a few places, I’ll give it that and certainly more lively than Thor’s teamup with the Valkyrie Runa in the last few issues.
The rest of comic is either recap or moving on to the next place to find answers but not really getting any and adding even more setup for future issues. For example, later on Thor and co. head to Hela’s domain of the dead only to discover that she’s gone and so is Karnilla, the other queen of the realm at this time, but maybe not anymore if the comic is anything to go by. Now, nothing really significant happens other than Odin and Thor fight for a little bit only to find more questions and not getting real answers. Meanwhile readers are treated to what is possibly the real answer: Dr. Doom has Hela in his custody. Again, this is a possible answer or a misdirection, we can’t tell yet. But now Dr. Doom is getting directly involved in the story, much sooner than I expected. So, fans have something to look forward to next issue, and hopefully we all get some real answers.
Now, some might ask, “What about the backup story about Thor and Black Panther?” Well, it’s passable but it’s also skippable. There’s nothing really cool done here, it’s more or less a side quest that Thor and Black Panther go on. It’s all about Odin owing the Panther Goddess Bast a “boon” and she’s calling for him to pay up. And since he’s trapped in the hammer, Thor volunteers and she has T’Challa team up with him to go face an Egyptian monster and that’s that. The writing is fine, the dialogue is okay, and the art is okay. Read it or skip it, it’s reader’s choice on this one.
Final Thoughts:
Thor #31 concludes the previous story arc, while opening the door for the next story arc. Readers get an answer to what lies beyond the big door from the previous issue, but they also get more questions than answers, and it’s not long before Thor is sent off to the next big problem connected to all of this. Not much happens in this issue, but its setup for the next issue ends up being far more intriguing than what happens in this issue. Hopefully, with who we see on the cover of the next issue, the story and excitement start to pick up again.
7.5/10
* This article was originally published here
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